Medjugorje: what it means to me: 1, #1

By Louise Hall

MEDJUGORJE: WHAT IT MEANS TO ME is a collection of testimonies from Irish people -some well known, some not so well known -about how they first came to find out about the village of Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The deeply personal stories detail how they found themselves visiting the holy place, their experiences and encounters with God whilst there and the impact it has had on their lives today. It is a book both for those who already know of Medjugorje and those who have never heard about the village or the alleged apparitions which have been happeneing there for over forty years.

 

The village of Medjugorje has seen millions of visitors pass through since the apparitions first began in 1981. The people who share their testimonies with the reader range from a recovering heroin addict to a wealthy businessman. Singer Daniel O'Donnell, T.V. presenter Mary Kennedy, radio host Shaun Doherty and renowened composer, singer and songwriter, Liam Lawton are also amongst the contributors.

 

MEDJUGORJE: WHAT IT MEANS TO ME is a book where the reader can vividly see evidence, through the lives of others, that God truly does exist.

 

Louise Hall, Editor

• Language: English
• Publisher: Louise Hall
• Release date: Oct 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223402886

Louise Hall

Louise Hall is a writer of fiction, non-fiction and short stories from Dublin, Ireland. Her non-fiction works include, Medjugorje: what it means to me (2012) and Medjugorje and Me: a collection of stories from across the world (2014). The latter was translated into Italian -I Miracoli di Medjugorje -and published by Edizioni Piemme in 2016. Louise's first fiction novel, Pilgrim, was published by Ireland's oldest publishing house, Mercier Press, in 2018. The novel received endorsements from award winning authors, Donal Ryan and Carmel Harrington. In 2020, during the worldwide pandemic, Louise published, Little Book of Hope, a pocketbook of reflections to help guide people through the difficult times. Her short stories, Frankie's List, Turlough's Dream and Ballymun Chaos are published online in the Irish Times literary section. Louise is represented by Sonia Land of Sheil Land Associates in London.

Book preview

Medjugorje:

what it means to me

First edition, 2012,

published by

the columba press

55A Spruce Avenue,

Stillorgan Industrial Park,

Blackrock, Co. Dublin

Cover by Bill Bolger

Cover image by Hrvoje Joe Topić

Origination by The Columba Press

The author would like to express her gratitude to photographer Hrvoje Joe Topić for kindly permitting the usage of his image for the cover.

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Copyright © 2012, Louise Hall and the contributors

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List of Contributors

Foreword by Fr Svetozar Kraljevic 7

Introduction by Louise Hall 9

1 Liam Lawton 16

2 Mary Kennedy 21

3 Shaun Doherty 25

4 Arthur McCluskey 32

5 Damien Richardson 41

6 Maureen Maher 47

7 Una Kenealy 53

8 Stuart McGovern 58

9 Derek Farrell 65

10 Charlie Lennon 68

11 Honor Taylor 77

12 Ollie Clarke 81

13 Fr Ruairí Ó Domhnaill 83

14 Des Kelly 89

15 Jason Hamilton 97

16 Josephine McGroarty 100

17 Kevin Cunningham 109

18 Donna McGettigan-Ostojić 117

19 Brian O’Driscoll 122

20 Daniel O’Donnell 127

21 James Mahon 133

22 Anne Corcoran 139

23 Jackie ‘The Farmer’ O’Sullivan 147

24 Margaret Toomey 151

25 Fr Peter McAnenly 154

Foreword

This book containing the faith stories of pilgrims is a normal and natural development in the story of Medjugorje. One story creates another, and so on. The story that began on 24 June 1981 on the hillside of Bijakovići, in the parish of Medjugorje, in Bosnia and Herzegovina now continues in countries all over the world.

Today, in the year 2012, as I write these words, we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady. On that day when Our Lady was born the heavens spoke to the Earth and said: I love you. When Our Lady was born, the story of love between heaven and earth began in Christ. With Christ, our brother, and with Our Lady, our mother, we, the ordinary people – you and me – were called and became a heavenly family. The story of Our Lady and the story of Christ became the story of all in heaven and on earth. The heavens, as well as the earth, became our dwelling place.

As you read the words of this book, dear reader, I ask you to think of the gift God gave to the world in the person of Our Lady and in the person of Christ. But God does not stop there. The plan of love continues. When you were born there was the same plan of love in heaven. God thought of love and so he thought of you. God gave you to the world in love. When you were born God wanted the world to receive the greatest gift, the same gift given in the birth of Our Lady and in the birth of Christ. You are the gift of God to the world. God has the same plan and the same intention for you as for Christ and Our Lady. God wants every person to continue to be his gift to the world throughout their life until the end.

The story of the love of God began with the birth of Our Lady. It  continues in every birth. It continues with every moment of life. The story of love continues in every sacrament, in every prayer and in every moment of faith. This story of the love of God continues with the story of Our Lady in Medjugorje.

In the biblical pages of the New Testament we read stories of people receiving Christ. In pilgrimage this biblical drama of faith continues  as people encounter Christ in the sacraments. In a special way, this  story of faith continues in the lives of people from Ireland, as this book witnesses. This book is a continuation of the biblical stories in our time. In Medjugorje: what it means to me we see the drama of Christ coming  to his people as it happens in our time; before our very eyes. I strongly  recommend this book. Everyone needs to be a story in it.

Fr Svetozar Kraljevic

Medjugorje,

September 2012

Introduction

On 24 June 1981, six young children claimed to have seen a vision of Our Lady on a small hill called Podbrdo in the poor Catholic farming village of Medjugorje. Although they ran away terrified at the sight of the apparition, they returned to the same spot at the same time the  following day and came face to face with the mother of God, who has continued to appear to them every day since then. When the children asked Our Lady why she had appeared she answered, ‘I have come to let you know that God does exist.’

Over thirty years later, in what is said by some to be a continu­ation of Lourdes and Fatima, more than 40 million curious pilgrims have descended on the quaint village of Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, eager to hear what the ‘Queen of Peace’ has to say.

On the 25th of each month, the ‘Gospa’, as the visionaries fondly call her, gives a message to the world. The messages are of peace, love, reconciliation, fasting and prayer; and always begin with ‘Dear Children’ and end with, ‘Thank you for having responded to my call.’

Many people, including journalists, have tried to discredit the allegations but most come home converted and eager to spread the messages they receive. The village of Medjugorje has now adapted to cope with the influx of tourists and continues to attract people of all religions from all over the world. When the church of St James (patron saint of pilgrims) was built in 1933 everyone thought it was far too big for the small village; little did they know that millions of pilgrims would pass through its doors many years later.

The large white cross on Mount Križevac is the first thing pilgrims see when they come to Medjugorje. It was also built in 1933 and contains a piece of the true cross of Christ.

The six visionaries, who are now grown adults with child­ren of  their own, still claim to see the Virgin Mary, albeit some less frequently than others. When people ask the six seers to describe the woman who appears they explain as best they can the incomparable beauty before their eyes.

According to the visionaries, the Madonna appears in a greyish-blue dress with a long white veil. Her hair is black and her eyes are blue and she floats on a white cloud; a crown of twelve gold stars sits comfortably on her head. On feast days and spec­ial occasions she dresses in gold, sometimes holding the baby Jesus in her arms. Other times, he is said to appear standing beside her with the crown of thorns torturing his bleeding head.

The visionaries say that when Our Lady appears a little piece of heaven comes with her and that if we knew how much Our Lady loved us, we would cry tears of joy.

Travelling out to Medjugorje for the 30th anniversary of the apparitions in 2011 brought me face to face with many Irish pilgrims. Each person was there for different reasons; some in thanksgiving for the good in their lives; others to pray for a sick relative or friend; more who were simply searching and hoping to awaken and reinstate the spirituality they were born with but may have lost along their journey through life.

Each and every person I met had an intriguing story to tell about how they were introduced to Medjugorje and why they felt drawn to travel there.

My mother brought the first group of Irish pilgrims out to the village back in the eighties and each one of her five children always accompanied her on the trips, including me.

As a curious and naïve child, I can remember Medjugorje as the poor farming village it was many years ago and have fond memories of feeling pure peace and love in the hospitality of the local people who eagerly opened their homes to the masses of visitors. The food and wine they placed on our table each night was fresh from the earth and, although they had little in terms of wealth or material goods, they willingly gave us everything they possible could.

The lack of wealth in the village was evident and, even though this was at a time during the eighties when Ireland was going through its own tough economic recession, I can still remember the generosity of the Irish pilgrims who dug deep into their pockets on the last day of their stay, eagerly making up a collection of coins and notes of both dollars and local currency to give to the host families as a token of appreciation for their hospitality.

I remember going back as a teenager to the Youth Festivals where a young and newly-ordained Fr Liam Lawton, along with Fr Slavko, who was spiritual advisor to the visionaries, were present, as were hundreds of young people from all over the world who were housed in twenty-man tents on the outskirts of the village where they engaged in a week of folk music, song and prayer. For me, it was like a spiritual and social uprising drenched in enthusiasm, faith and love. Here, I met many like-minded young people and I could leave behind all that was expected of me by my peers and detach myself from the, sometimes extreme, pressures and expectations which were associated with the turbulent teenage years. Medjugorje was a place where everyone was invited and accepted, regardless of one’s failings and imperfections.

It is very true that once you visit Medjugorje you will undoubtedly return. People rarely travel there only once and the place possesses a strange, compelling magnetic effect. As I got older, I journeyed on through life, entered adulthood, fell in love and started a family and, though I always said I would return to Medjugorje, it never seemed to be the right time in my life to do so.

In 2008 my sister died very suddenly at the young age of twenty-six. She had accompanied my mother on her first trip to Medjugorje many years ago when she was only two years old. Nicky was born with Down’s syndrome. She was the light of our life and our family was stricken with an indescribable and heart-wrenching grief when she passed away. Suddenly, I became very aware of my own mortality and made a conscious decision to stop putting off things in my life that I  always wanted to do.

When I heard that Vicka was appearing on The Late Late Show in  February 2011, I was fortunate enough to be a guest in the green room. My mother was also there and we all chatted amiably with Vicka, who I can only describe as the ‘smiling visionary’ who seems to have this constant light emanating from her.

Later on, Vicka and my mother shared a private moment together and my mother openly expressed her grief at the loss of my sister. Vicka listened on sympathetically, pure empathy evid­ent in her eyes, and my mother listened attentively as the kind-hearted visionary told her how children with special needs are sent down as a gift from heaven. She said they are sent down to teach us and bring love. However, they are also called back, up to where they belong, to live in eternal happiness.

I made my decision that night to go back to Medjugorje for the 30th anniversary of the apparitions. I didn’t know the real reason why I was going back. I just knew that I was giving in to that strong pull and desire to once again visit this holy place.

Before I travelled over, I was asked by the Sunday Independent, Woman’s Way and the Medjugorje Herald to write for them while I was on the trip and so I knew my time was limited as I had deadlines to  adhere to and many people to meet within five days.

Arriving at the village after more than twenty years, I was both surprised and encouraged to see that the authenticity of the village had remained intact despite the inevitable arrival of commercialism. I inhaled and soaked up the reverential and venerable ambiance and allowed  myself to get lost amidst the undeniable sense of peace and love.

On my second day, I was lucky to get an interview with Ivan, one of the visionaries, as his schedule was consumed with radio and television interviews that week. Nevertheless, he agreed to meet me under the shade of a tree in the grounds of St James Church the morning after I arrived. He spoke through an interpreter called Daniela.

The married man reflected on the past thirty years by saying, ‘These days, I really go back to the first date and I want to renew those first  beginnings which are so profound in my memory. I want to filter all that was so amazing and so beautiful. For me and my wife, this truly has been a great gift.’

When I asked Ivan about the messages Our Lady had for the people, he was confident in his reply.

‘When Our Lady speaks, she speaks to us all. She is our mother, she loves us all and we are all important to her; there are no rejected ones. She needs us to spread her message. That is why it is paramount that we realise the importance of her coming and of her messages during this moment and time we are living in.’

I asked him what the most important messages were.

‘In a special way, I would like to emphasise the most important message which in my opinion is the message of peace and prayer. If we don’t listen to those two, then we cannot accept all of the messages that Our Lady is sending. It is hard and difficult to forgive if you do not have peace in your heart. Without forgiveness there is no healing. If there is no spiritual healing, then there is no physical healing.’

Ivan finished off by saying that we must be free and open to the Holy Spirit and in that way we can accept what Our Lady desires for us.

The rest of my week was filled with stories and testimonies from different people from all walks of life and I absorbed the universal message of love and peace that emanated from every pilgrim in the village. It was almost indescribable and that familiar and welcoming feeling of  enthusiasm, faith and love began to burn once again inside me. I also listened intently to various stor­ies of events that have happened in the village in recent times. It was intriguing to hear of a group of young  European students who, months earlier, were gathered around the white statue of Our Lady in the grounds of St James Church. A pilgrim had noticed that every person in the young group had tears flowing down their cheeks. When the pilgrim approached the group, she asked them why they were crying – assuming they must have lost a friend recently who was very close to them.

The students turned to the inquisitive pilgrim and said, ‘Look. Can you not see? Our Lady; she is calling us closer.’ They went on to explain that the hand of the statue had been moving, motioning them all to come nearer.

When I ventured up to the Blue Cross one sun-filled morning, passing through the picturesque vineyards with the ever present impressive mountains nestled comfortably in the backdrop, I sat on a rock at the foot of the cross and listened to a mesmerising story.

Our guide for the week explained how during the Bosnian War the soldiers wouldn’t let the visionaries go to Apparition Hill. For the six children, it was torture not to see the Blessed Virgin and so Ivan decided to disobey the commands as he sneaked out of his home one evening. When he came to the foot of Podbrdo there was an old stone house over to the right and Ivan ventured over trying to be as quiet as he could. Suddenly, he heard Our Lady’s voice and she told him that the soldiers were near by and that he must stay exactly where he was.

The guide continued to tell us that Ivan stood very still but within seconds, the sniffer dogs and soldiers were by his side. However, after a few moments they moved on past him. It is said that the Gospa made him invisible for those few moments.

While still sitting at the Blue Cross, the articulate guide told us that just the other day she was bringing another group of pilgrims up Podbrdo. She had been praying hard that week, despite her busy work schedule, and had achieved what she set out to do in terms of prayers and Mass. Pondering on her week, she wondered to herself who she should offer her prayers up for. Moments later she noticed a beautiful young family all dressed from head to foot in pristinely clean clothes, with pictures of Our Lady on their hats and T-shirts. The father had his back to the guide and held a young child in his arms. The mother, who the guide described as extremely pretty, had sunglasses on and was feeding an infant child in her arms.

When the mother took off her sunglasses, the guide said she felt  baffled as to why this stunningly beautiful mother had such a sad look in her eyes. It was only seconds later, when the man turned around with the other child in his arms, that she realised the plight of the mother. The father held a young child, about two years of age, who was obviously very sick as he had many tubes coming out of his nose and mouth. Although her heart ached at the sight, the guide said she knew exactly where her prayers must be directed and offered everything from the past week up for this child and family.

It gave me some comfort that when we feel helpless in similar situations where neither words nor actions can change a person’s fate, if nothing else, we can offer up a prayer for their plight.

On the day of the anniversary, I listened attentively to Fr Svet’s homily where he spoke about the Cenacolo Community and the nun who founded the organisation which helps young men with addiction. I found his words to the listening congregation very apt: ‘Let us all be  apparitions to each other.’

Only earlier that day, I had visited the Merciful Fathers rehab­ilitation centre up at The Mother’s Village and listened to the testimonies of two recovering addicts whose lives were torn apart by the effects of the Bosnian War. As chronic drug addicts, the Merciful Father’s centre was their last hope and both were doing extremely well and receiving treatment through work and prayer. Later that day, I met with Bobbi, a former successful professional gymnast and thirty-time champion in Macedonia who also turned to heroin and began dealing drugs at fourteen years of age. When he broke his leg, leaving him unable to compete, and his parents divorced he became very depressed and turned to drink, marijuana and eventually heroin. At twenty-three years of age he went into the Merciful Fathers and began treatment. He was now clean for over four and a half years and working actively within the parish and church of St James.

When introduced to Arthur McCluskey, who hailed from the town of Emo, Co. Laois, I instantly became intrigued to hear about the story of his life. Arthur was a wealthy businessman but a self-confessed chronic gambler who would often lose thousands of pounds on the horses in a day. He gave his testimony on how Medjugorje